Her Mother's Daughter
by CarolinaGal08
Summary: Every little girl wants to be just like her mother, even when she's not quite a little girl anymore - and Natalie Buchanan was no exception. She had never imagined that that wish would fulfill itself in quite this way, though. Now, she'll need all the strength she inherited from both parents to survive her biggest challenge yet.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This isn't the story I'd intended to post next, but this was seems to have grabbed me even more than the other I was working on. This story begins a few months after the end of the last online OLTL episode - except it ignores all the parts with Allison Perkins, because I really don't know what to make of them. So for the sake of this story, the whole Allison-drugging-Clint storyline is gone; he's just a messy drunk. That will probably be the case in all my stories that include the online canon, unless I can magically figure out just what I think the writers were doing with that whole storyline.

I am still working on Missing Pieces and will be wrapping that story up in a few weeks, so don't think I'm abandoning that one for this one! In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this new story!

* * *

Bo Buchanan tossed another case file into his 'pending' stack and leaned back in his chair. These days, it seemed there was very little of substance for the 'closed' stack, and try as he might to not let it get to him, it was. He supposed it didn't help that he had the mayor breathing down his neck about the series of still-unsolved drug murders that had started a few months back with Brianna Marland. Three overdoses and counting, and the department had almost nothing to show for it. Cases like those were the ones that bothered him the most.

Looking up at the sound of a knock on the door, he smiled and waved his niece into the office. "Natalie, this is a pleasant surprise," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"Just wanted to drop off the preliminary forensics report on last night's robbery," Natalie said, stepping up to the front of the desk and handing him a thin folder. "There's not a lot to go on in there, but we're still waiting on a full analysis of the fingerprints and DNA. I should have that for you sometime tomorrow."

"I wasn't even expecting a preliminary until tomorrow," Bo commented, flipping open the folder and scanning the first page. "That's a pretty impressive turnaround rate, Natalie."

Natalie smiled at the compliment. "What can I say? I'm that good," she said. "I'm headed out now, but I'll have my cell if you have any questions about the report."

"Out?" Bo frowned as he glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's barely 2:30, Natalie."

"I have a doctor's appointment," Natalie said. "I'm pretty sure I told you this morning."

"Didn't you have a doctor's appointment last week?"

Natalie hesitated, having hoped he wouldn't remember that. "So?"

"So you had a doctor's appointment last week, and I'm pretty sure you had one the week before that too," Bo said. "Are you sure that's where you're headed?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Fine, you got me," she said. "I'm sneaking off to see my lover. I've been having an absolutely torrid affair with this Brazilian male model and using doctor's appointments to cover it up. I'm sorry, Uncle Bo, I just can't keep my hands off of him."

Bo laughed and shook his head. "If you don't want to tell me where you're going, just tell me you need a few hours of personal time," he said. "There's no need to make up steamy love affairs…or doctor's appointments, for that matter."

"I'll keep that in mind," Natalie said, looking down at her watch. "In the meantime, I actually do have a doctor's appointment in half an hour, so I really need to get going."

"Natalie!" Bo called out, causing her to pause and turn as she was halfway out the door. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Natalie said quickly, in a tone that wasn't quite convincing. "Everything's fine. It's just some test results from last week, it's no big deal. I'm fine."

* * *

Natalie glanced anxiously at her watch and sighed as she leaned back in the chair tucked in the corner of the waiting room at her doctor's office. It seemed to be just her luck that the doctor would be running late when there was so much riding on her appointment. She supposed the wait wasn't the worst thing in the world. After all, she already knew this wasn't going to be the the all-clear that she'd been expecting over and over again the past few weeks. Somehow, she knew her life was about to change, and not for the better.

It had started innocently enough. A moment in the shower that had given her pause, followed a few days later by a quick visit to the doctor for reassurance…a quick visit that had turned into a flurry of tests and waiting and inconclusive results, then biopsies and blood work and even more waiting. The waiting was the worst part. Not knowing was slowly killing her, but as she thought about the sympathetic look she could have sworn she'd seen on the face of the nurse who'd checked her in, she was pretty sure she didn't want the waiting to end.

"Ms. Banks?"

Natalie nodded slowly and stood up as the nurse approached her.

"You can follow me, Dr. Callahan will see you now," the young woman said.

"Thank you," Natalie said, following her down a short hallway and into the doctor's small, classically decorated office.

"Natalie, I'm so sorry for the wait," Dr. Callahan said, standing up behind her desk and motioning for Natalie to enter the room. "Please, won't you have a seat?"

Natalie smiled politely at the nurse and stepped into the room, taking a seat in a chair near the desk. Looking around the office, she felt more and more uneasy about the conversation that was coming. She'd only ever seen the man behind the desk in an exam room. In her mind, the doctor's actual office was reserved for bad news meetings.

"Natalie, I have the results of your biopsy," Dr. Callahan said. "I'm sorry they took so long, but I had the lab double check them, just to be sure."

"It's not good news, is it?" Natalie asked.

Dr. Callahan sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Natalie," he said. "I really wish it were."

"Is it…I mean, do the tests show…" Natalie took a shaky breath as she tried to bring herself to say the word that had been running nonstop through her mind the last three weeks. "Is it…what I thought it might be?"

"I'm afraid so," Dr. Callahan said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the desk. "Natalie, you have breast cancer."


	2. Chapter 2

_Cancer._

Natalie never could have imagined that one word could so completely take over her mind, but as she walked up to the front door at Llanfair that evening, she honestly couldn't even remember how she'd gotten from the doctor's office to her old home. The only thing she could remember after walking into the office was hearing that word from Dr. Callahan. Everything about the three hours since then was a hazy blur.

"Natalie, darling, there you are," Viki smiled as she walked out of the library just as Natalie stepped into the house. "You were supposed to be by an hour ago and you weren't answering your phone. I was starting to get worried."

"Sorry, Mom," Natalie said quietly. "Something came up."

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" Viki asked in concern. "You look pale."

"I…" Natalie hesitated as an internal struggle kicked in. She'd never intended to put off telling anyone, but as she stared at her mother's anxious face, she suddenly found herself without the words to tell her.

"Natalie? What's wrong?" Viki asked anxiously. "Is it your father again?"

Natalie shook her head. "No, it's not Dad. As far as I know, he's okay."

"Have you spoken to him lately?"

"No," Natalie admitted. "He's still not taking my calls. I guess I should have known forcing him into rehab by threatening to go the board of B.E. was not going to go over well."

"Sweetheart, you did the right thing," Viki assured her. "If you hadn't stepped in, it would have only been a matter of time before the board got tired of his antics and tried to force him out. Taking a voluntary leave and putting Cord in charge while he's away was the best thing your father could have done for B.E. He'll recognize that once he has time to come to his senses."

"Maybe," Natalie said, not quite believing her mother. "At least he takes Jessica's calls, so I know he's still there. Every week when I call, I keep thinking maybe he'll finally talk to me, but it's been a month and a half, and still nothing."

"Your father is stubborn, I'll give him that," Viki agreed with a sigh. "So, if it's not your father…"

"Really, it's nothing, Mom," Natalie said. "Just a long day at work, that's all. I'm just tired."

"Well, why don't you come on in and have some tea?" Viki suggested. "I feel as though I hardly see you these days, what with all the hours you're putting in down at the station."

"I know, I'm sorry," Natalie said, following her mother into the library. "It's just hard, you know? Between Liam and work, I don't have a whole lot of leftover time these days."

"Whatever happened to that young man you were spending time with?" Viki asked curiously. "You never did tell me his name."

Natalie shuddered and shook her head at the thought of her brief dalliance with Cutter Wentworth. "It's not important, that's over and done with," she said. "And to honest, it wasn't nearly as fun as I'd hoped it would be. I think the only man I'm going to have in my life for quite some time is Liam. Speaking of…where are you hiding my son?"

"He's asleep upstairs," Viki said.

"Asleep? Mom, it's six o'clock, I'll never get him to bed at a decent hour now," Natalie complained.

"Sweetheart, he got sick this afternoon, he was exhausted," Viki said. "I just couldn't keep him up any longer."

"Why didn't you call me? Is he running a fever?"

"A little one," Viki admitted. "It's not serious, so I didn't want to bother you. Lest you forget, I did manage to raise several children of my own. I'd like to think I have some idea what I'm doing."

Natalie sighed and nodded. "I know you do," she said. "It's just…he's my baby, Mom. He's hardly even a baby anymore, but still…"

"I know, sweetheart," Viki said. "Listen, why don't you let me keep him here tonight?"

"Mom, I can't…"

"Natalie, you look like you're dead on your feet, and I know it's more than just long hours at work, even if you don't want to tell me what exactly it is that's going on," Viki said. "And you're right, Liam's going to be up at all hours tonight. Let me handle him. You go home and get some sleep."

"You'll call me if his fever goes up?"

"Of course I will," Viki assured her.

Natalie hesitated but nodded, knowing that after the day she'd had, she certainly wouldn't have the strength to deal with a sick child that evening anyway. "Alright," she conceded. "But you call me if there's even a small change, got it?"

Viki smiled as she walked Natalie to the door. "He'll be fine," she promised. "Go get some rest, have a good day at work tomorrow, and I'm sure Liam will be right as rain by the time you come by for him tomorrow evening."

* * *

Later that night, Natalie found herself sitting at her kitchen table, staring numbly at the papers scattered across the surface in front of her. Pamphlets, brochures, treatment options - she was pretty sure her doctor's staff had killed a dozen trees to make sure she had everything they thought she could possibly want to read. _Life After Mastectomy_. _Cancer and You_. _Surviving and Thriving_. They read to her like a best hits collection of cliches and stereotypes written by someone who had never sat where she was sitting now, and it took all her restraint not to toss them in the trash and light the can on fire.

The treatment options were the worst. She knew her doctor had gone over it with her at the office, but try as she might, she could hardly remember a single word that had come out of the man's mouth after the word cancer. She might as well have not even been there for the conversation, because clearly they were going to have to have it all over again when she met with the oncologist in the morning. Try as she might, though, she couldn't seem to make heads nor tails of the words on the page in front of her.

Picking up her phone, she set it on the table in front of her and stared. She knew if she called her mother, she'd drop everything to be there with her. And she knew that Viki would understand, having been there herself a little less than fifteen years earlier. But she couldn't do that, she couldn't give her mother one more thing to worry about, not quite yet. She could have called Jessica or any one of her brothers, but they were all in London, and she figured they knew as little about this as she did. There was really only one person she wanted there in that moment.

Slowly, she picked up the phone and hit the first speed dial button. One ring, then two, then three. She'd known he wasn't going to pick up, but she still felt as though she might burst into tears when she heard his voice on the voicemail recording.

"Hey John, it's me," she said, forcing her voice to remain calm. "Listen, I know you're not undercover anymore, your handler told me you were out, so I guess you're just not taking my calls. I know you hate me, I know you think I was keeping Liam away from you, but I…I really need you right now, John, and, uh, Liam...Liam's going to need you too. So, I don't know, maybe you could call me back? Please?"

Natalie shook her head as she hung up the phone, not holding out much hope that he'd even listen to the message, let alone return her call. It had been almost a month since she'd called his FBI handler and learned that his undercover assignment had ended, but she still had yet to hear anything from him. Tea had told her not to call him, that it was bad for the custody case if she and John communicated directly, but at this point, she really didn't care much about that. All of a sudden, there were more important things in life than being angry at someone.

Looking back at the papers on the table, she figured if she couldn't bring herself to ask for the personal support she wanted, at the very least she could try to get some help with the medical stuff. Picking up the phone again, she scrolled through her contacts until she found the one she wanted. Pressing the phone to her ear, she held her breath and prayed he'd pick up.

"Hey, it's Natalie," she said nervously. "Yeah, I know it's been a while. Do you have a minute?"


End file.
